pollyanna (smitherman) sanders simpson
The
Honorable Pollyanna Smitherman Sanders Simpson, 83, of Dimmitt passed
away Wednesday, December 29, 2010 in Dimmitt. Funeral services will be
Friday, December 31, 2010 at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of
Dimmitt with Rev. Rance Young officiating with burial at Hart
Cemetery in Hart, Texas. Family visitation will be Thursday evening
from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Arrangements are being
handled by Colonial Funeral Home of Dimmitt.Pollyanna was born December 3, 1927 in Floydada, Texas to Jack and Aileen Smitherman. She graduated from Hart High School in 1945. She attended Texas Tech University and West Texas State. She had resided in the Dimmitt community for 34 years from 1964-1998, prior to moving to Dimmitt she resided in Hart, Texas.
She married Charles (Charley) Franklin Sanders on June 5, 1948 in Clovis, N.M. They resided on a farm in Hart until Charley's death on February 5, 1959. She later married Martin Lorenza (M.L.) Simpson, Jr. on November 22, 1964 in Dimmitt, Texas. In 1981 after the death of her husband, Castro County Judge M.L. Simpson, Jr., she was appointed as Castro County Judge by the County Commissioners to fill the unexpired term of her husband. While in office she served as president and member of West Texas Judges and Commissioners. She was a Patriotic American who loved her country, state, county and community. She served as Castro County Judge from 1982-1996. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Dimmitt.
She is survived by four sons, Bill Sanders and his wife Suzan of Dimmitt, Brent Sanders and his wife Sarah of Floydada, Brad Sanders and his wife Sharon of Lubbock and Mark L. Simpson and his wife Lesley of Kyle, Texas; three daughters, Carolyn Witherspoon and her husband Jack of Amarillo, Patty Hill and her husband Dick of Hereford and Lisa Palmer and her husband Brad of Plains; one brother, Tony Smitherman and his wife Monta Jean of McLean and one, sister Rue Bralley and her husband Joe Bob of Amarillo; three sisters-in-law, Betty Sanders of Hart, Imogene Sanders of Lubbock and Louise Nelson of College Station; and one brother-in-law, Bob Simpson; 22 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends.
She was preceded in death by her first husband, Charley Sanders; two sisters, Jackie Sue Smitherman and Patsy Harper; her second husband, M.L. Simpson, Jr.; her parents, Jack and Aileen Smitherman; a son, Joe Bob Sanders; and a grandson, Barry Brent Sanders.
Memorials can be made to Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, PO Box 1890, Amarillo, TX 79174-0001, First United Methodist Church of Dimmitt, 110 SW 3rd, Dimmitt, TX 79027, National Kidney Foundation, 30 East 33rd St., New York, NY 10016.
You may go online and sign the online guestbook at colonialfuneralhome.org.